A distributed team is one where there is no central office and employees are spread across multiple locations by design, often globally. The team's operating model is built around distribution from the start rather than treating remote work as accommodation. The term is used somewhat interchangeably with "remote-first" or "fully remote" but emphasizes the geographic distribution dimension (employees in many cities, possibly many countries) rather than just the absence of office presence. The model was pioneered by companies like Automattic, GitLab, Buffer, and Zapier that built their organizations around distribution from founding. It is the most extreme form of remote operating and the model that requires the most delibera...